Inked
by slytherensangel26
Summary: This is the reworked version of the original. Scars heal, though they're rarely ever pretty. It's ink day for Kyle DeSantos and he's ready to cover the horrible scarring he was left with. Raising The Pterodactyl universe. Kyle/Autumn centric. Enjoy!


**Mid April (about a month after the wedding)**

" _You listen to me, Kyle DeSantos! I'm the one person under 21 to have seen you at your worst, all bruised and bleeding with needles sticking out of your arms. I'm the one person in the world besides your parents that you should be letting in. I slept next to you when you were zoned out and stuff. Am I only Corazon to you when things are going like you want them to?"_

Kyle flinched at the memory. His girlfriend was amazing and she never once put up with his crap. That confrontation felt more than anything like their souls had fused.

" _Don't block me out anymore; I've got your back."_

And he hadn't. Never again did he keep her out of the loop; and it had been his saving grace. She'd proven herself to be so strong and no matter what rage he'd flown into, or tantrum he'd had. She stood strong, she hadn't even flinched once.

Autumn Park was the daughter of a yellow ranger, through and through.

After that incident, she'd kept close to him. While some guys may have thought she was clingy and would have dumped their girls for lesser things, he saw her as simply having his back, being a sounding board and a giver of solace.

When they'd gone to McKnight Manor, it was as if they'd all been given a chance to breathe fresh air again. His nightmares had gotten worse at the time and for the first couple of days he'd wake up in cold sweats and sometimes hadn't slept at all. He'd heard his parents discussing options for helping him through it.

It was Autumn that had found a solution sooner than any of them. The next day she brought out a giant hammock that she'd found in a storage room. It looked a little old and yet they could see that it had been barely used. They'd gone to their parents for permission and to have it examined.

Adam had looked at him closely. "Remember your vow, Kyle. I'm trusting you to keep to your word."

"I haven't forgotten, sir. I love and respect her, even if I did try anything, she'd knock me out for sure."

Adam had smirked. "She's her mother, for sure."

From that moment on, until they'd gone back to Angel Grove, every night, weather permitting, they'd slept together in the hammock out on the porch and under the stars. He'd never slept better.

 _It was late in the morning when they'd found their song. They were listening to his mp3 player when the song came on. Kyle didn't have many songs on there that weren't in English, but this one, with its sweet sound and soft voiced singer had her intrigued. More than once he'd been caught singing it softly to himself in Spanish, and she'd thought it sounded really sweet and loving._

 _ **Como el milagro que tanto espere  
Eres la niña que siempre busque  
Azul, es tu inocencia que quiero entender  
Tu principe azul yo seré  
**_

" _Kyle, what's that mean? I hear you sing it a lot…but never in English."_

 _He'd thought for a moment, silently translating it in his head. His father had been adamant that he learn the language. It seemed as if he'd grown up learning to speak Spanish and English at the same time._

 _He'd kissed their joined hands and then began to sing the translated stanza._

 _ **Like the miracle I waited for so much  
You are the girl I always looked for  
Blue, it is your innocence that I want to understand  
I will be your Prince Charming.  
**_

 _Autumn had given him a radiant smile. "It does sound better in Spanish."_

 _Kyle kissed her chastely for that._

" _Will you sing it for me again, but not in English?"_

 _And he had, several times. She'd even gone as far as to add it to her own mp3 player. He'd caught her humming it softly to herself._

"Hey, son, Time to get up." Kyle came out of his reverie to see his dad and girlfriend standing at the top of the stairs. That had been another thing that had to change when they returned from Reefside. They had tried to go back to sleeping in their own beds, but then the nightmares returned. They had taken to sleeping on the couch together, under blankets. In the kid's loft…out in full view where the parents could check up on them.

When their parents saw them like that, they both decided to trade out the couch for a futon. At night, they slept on the futon in full sleepwear. Gone were the boxers for Kyle and Nightgowns for Autumn. Those were the only stipulations they had been forced to agree to.

Kyle nodded and sat up as his Dad walked over to the bed.

"Let me see that arm of yours, son." Kyle sighed and held out his arm for them both to see. His scars were still there, though they weren't an inflamed red color anymore. At his last check-up, Dr. Nadine had been surprised. She proclaimed him fully fit. Then they had made an appointment to see the plastic surgeon.

That had been a ploy though, as far as the surgeon went. What they were planning to do was frowned upon by California law. But with the good doctor's help, they found a way to circumvent the appointment they were going for today.

It was ink day. His arm was healed enough to go get the tattoo he wanted. They couldn't go to a normal parlor. In order to do this, they had to go to Dr. Nadine's home.

"It looks good to me. Your Mom is downstairs making some breakfast, you better go get a shower and get dressed."

"Yes sir," Kyle said. He got up and hugged his Dad and gave Autumn a grin before he walked towards his bedroom.

Autumn waited till he was gone and then proceeded to put the bed away. It was a routine they had been doing since returning to the Manor. She had showered earlier that day and so went straight to her room to change clothes.

 _Kyle glared at his arm. It wasn't the first time he wished he could just rip the skin off his arm and be done with it. But deep inside, he knew he would only make things worse for himself._

" _Ky, this would go faster if you'd let me help you."_

" _No, Autumn, you don't need to see this ugliness. I can do this on my own."_

 _His girlfriend sighed heavily again before she grabbed the bandage out of his hand. The medicine had already been applied and so had the gauze covering._

 _He frowned up at her. But he'd seen that glint in her eyes that warned him not to do anything stupid. Instead, he huffed loudly and simply held out his arm for her to tend to. In that moment, he realized that the two of them were fused together; he could feel it! More than once, he'd lay in the bed and wondered if he was being selfish because he wanted to keep her around forever. On the other hand, he couldn't bear to not have her around. She was his heart, and there was no getting rid of her._

 _With a faint smile, he watched as she tightly wound the ace bandage around his arm, holding it in place with the little metal clips. Surprisingly, she then leaned down at kissed his arm. It was so freaking adorable!_

"We're here, Kyle. You ready for this?" asked Autumn, sitting next to him in the truck. It sort of startled him and he jumped a bit. He took a deep breath and looked at his girlfriend.

"Yeah, let's do this."

She leaned over and kissed his cheek before jumping out of the cab. He grinned after her before hopping out, closing the door and grabbing his sweetheart's hand. Together, they walked up the path to the modest town house with a colorful garden out front.

Just as they were about to knock on the door, it opened and Dr. Nadine was there to greet them. Her red hair was pulled back in a clip and she wore shorts sleeves with a pair of old jeans and old looking sandals. For the first time, her tattoos were visible.

"Welcome! You guys are right on time!"

"Thanks, Nadine. You have a beautiful home." Aisha replied as they shook hands.

Kyle looked at Autumn and squeezed her hand briefly. She gave him an encouraging smile and then let go of his hand as they followed Rocky and Aisha through the front door.

It was a very comfortable looking house; one that only a doctor could afford. It had a pretty open floor plan in a well taken care of sub-division.

"Thanks, Aisha." Nadine answered as she led them towards some stairs that led down to the basement. When they got to the landing, she looked at Rocky. "My husband has been sketching all morning; it's a very interesting idea your son had. I think you're really going to like the end result."

Rocky nodded that he'd heard her. The design his son had chosen had come about during one of their early morning workouts. He'd given his son an important talk about how important it was that he chose his tattoo wisely.

 _"Tattoos are permanent; you're going to have to look at it every day. I'm not about to spend money on laser removal if you're not happy about the design. Before the needles ever touch your skin, make sure you are absolutely sure about the design."_

That conversation had led to them spending the next few hours, surfing the web in search of inspiration. The phoenix design they'd chosen had just popped out at them and both father and son had been thrilled about it. With a little more talk about color choices to make the design pop, he'd emailed the image to Dr. Nadine and now, about a week later, they were here to make it happen.

The basement was a total 180 from the rest of the house. Down here, the decor had gone from beige walls and leather furniture that screamed 'a wealthy couple lives here!' to a sanctuary fit for a biker and tattoo artist.

It was a very tidy space, about the size of the dojo back home, and smelled slightly of disinfectants. On the back end of the room was a counter that had a sink and cabinets that were separated by a shelf in the middle of it. On top of the counter, by the wall, was a metal box with a red cross on it.

Next to the counter space was an old fashioned looking Coca-Cola fridge that was stocked full sodas, bottles of water, and a beer or two. On the wall behind the counter hung a giant carved eagle that had a fierce expression on its face.

That was just on the back wall. The left wall had a large drawing desk and a doorway that had to lead to a bathroom. On the right wall was a metal cabinet on rollers. It didn't take much to realize that this was where the tattooing supplies were kept. And of course, right next to the metal cabinet was a black leather reclining chair with armrests on it. This was where Kyle was lead as they entered the room.

Once Kyle was seated, his parents and Autumn sat down on three matching leather chairs. A moment later, a rather large man walked in. He looked to be in his late 30's and had long dirty blond hair that was tied back in a tail at the base of his neck along with an impressive beard to match. He stood tall at 6 feet and had brown eyes that were presently focused on the little family sitting in his workshop.

He approached Rocky first. "Hello, Mr. DeSantos. My name is Odin, welcome to my workshop."

"That's an impressive name." He said as they shook hands.

Odin chuckled. "That's just the name I go by when my crew and I are on the road. They all say I look like the All-father. The only time I don't use it is when I'm in formal settings; that's when I use my other name. Jedidiah." Pausing he grinned and held out his hand to Aisha and then to Autumn. Finally, he turned to Kyle. "And now to the guest of honor."

Kyle had been watching everything with interest. When the big man turned to look at him he didn't look away. "Hey."

Odin held out his hand and Kyle took it. "I got your email and you made a good choice for your tattoo design. I've sketched it and I think you'll like it. But first, I think we should discuss any and all questions and concerns you might have."

"How long have you been tattooing?" Aisha asked.

Odin looked back at her. "I've been drawing all my life, I always knew I wanted to be a tattoo artist. As soon as I was legal, I apprenticed myself to a master and I became a professional about 15 years ago. So I've been inking people for 20 years. I can promise you that I'm a dedicated artist and I'm among the elite in this area of California."

Pausing, he got up from his seat and walked over to the cabinet and opened it, pulling out a binder. He walked over to the parents and handed it over. "I keep my bigger binders in the attic, but this is a sampling of my work. I know that many first timers are just a little worried about whether or not there will be regrets later. If there is anything more I can do to put you all at ease before I go any further just let me know. I really do have all day."

Rocky had been looking at the binder. "Tattoo me first. I've been considering getting one anyway. My son has been through hell. I know that any ink is going to hurt a bit no matter what, but it's the only way my mind will be set at ease."

Odin nodded in understanding. "That's not a problem; I won't even charge you for it. What would you like to have done and where would you like it?"

Rocky flipped the binder to show Odin. "This one, with the ribbons. In the first two I want Aisha and Kyle's names in script and the last one left empty. My wife and I are expecting. We'll come back later after the baby is born to fill the last one in."

"It's a very nice tattoo. Where do you want it?"

"On my forearm, just like my son's will be."

Odin nodded. "Sounds good to me. Go ahead and switch with your son and I'll go get my supplies ready. I prefer to set everything up in my client's view."

Not much else was said as he brought out the supplies. He showed them all the sterilized needle which was still in the package and they were all fascinated as he poured his ink, checked the tattooing gun over and put the necessary plastic cover over it. Finally, he turned to Rocky who looked just a little nervous though he hid it very well.

"Shall we begin?" When Rocky nodded, he added, "Stay as still as you can and don't hold your breath. It's going to hurt a bit, but breathe through it. If at any time you need a break, let me know and I'll stop."

When Rocky nodded again, he pulled on his latex gloves and then switched the machine on.

Rocky grimaced during the few couple of minutes, but after a while relaxed. Kyle had pulled up a second stool on his dad's other side and watched in fascination as Odin worked, holding his dad's other hand. It was a heartwarming scene and Aisha couldn't resist snapping a picture with her phone.

Nadine spoke up then, "Have you and your husband discussed options for his therapy?

Aisha shook her head. "No, not yet. We just don't know who we can trust as far as Psych doctors are concerned. The FBI is aware of what happened, but we don't know how many other hidden members of the TSA are out there.

Nadine was quiet for a second. "I see. Ranger life aint easy, is it?"

Aisha inhaled suddenly and looked at the doctor in alarm. She waved her off. "I'm a doctor, we notice everything. I never said anything before because I know better than to speak of such things where people can hear. Those orderlies can be such eavesdroppers."

Aisha spared a look at Autumn. "We're not rangers anymore, but we still like to keep things like this a secret. We don't want publicity or reporters coming after us. All we want is to live in peace and raise our families."

The doctor nodded. "Dr. Neeson notated things in his file, and when I got back I read them. Your son is resilient. He wrote down that when he order blood samples to test for irregularities, there seemed to be a faint glow around the blood cells, it wasn't glairing obvious like the movies, but it was there. There is definitely something special about your son."

Aisha nodded to herself. "It explains a lot." Then she proceeded to tell the doctor the watered down version of what happened during the showdown at the manor. "We've never experienced such an event before, especially in our kids. But we intend to find out.

Our friends are planning a trip to Phaedos, where we got our extra powers after Ivan's attack. They won't go till the baby is born, but it's in the plans for this summer."

"I hope they can help him. I won't say a word, nothing leaves this room. All I'm going to ask is that you keep me updated."

"Consider it done." Aisha said as she looked up to see her husband. The buzz sound was there and her wonderful amazing husband was flinching a little bit but his focus was on his son who was watching the gun with interest and they were quietly discussing something between themselves.

"It's an amazing thing he's doing; helping settle his son's mind by going under the needle first."

Aisha nodded. "Rocky has wanted to get ink done since we found out I was pregnant the first time. But our first priority was trying to get settled down after the big war. We had a dojo to get started, that big ranger museum was going up and we had to decide what the civilians could know and what had to be kept a secret. Then around the time that Kyle was conceived, we found out that Tanya and Adam were also expecting. It took a while to get things going. We also had a mission or two that got in the way. He decided today was the day. It's about time."

Nadine looked at Aisha again. "You said you were pregnant the first time. That means you're-"

"Pregnant again?" Aisha asked. "Yep. We just found out around the time that things went down with Kyle. We had more time when we were out in Reefside to focus on us a bit more and what this little peanut will mean. We'll have support from the ranger family; the most we can do is just go on with life as usual and wing things. There's a lot of exciting things coming up. Two births are coming up along with a wedding. Then we have the school situation to worry about along with the summber birthdays. We're really just working on trying to settle things down.

"Your lives sound really complicated. Do you regret any of it?"

"There are moments here and there. It's not the fighting we regret, it was a great way to keep in shape and we got to pilot those giant robots. It's more like regretting some of the lives we saved. I know when that principal at the high school expelled the kids, one of my thoughts was 'We saved Angel Grove for this?' We had power suits to protect us and space aged weapons, but every time we got thrown by explosions or shot with lasers, it still smarted a little and we had a lot of bruises and sore joints to ice down once in a while.

We were young and idealistic then, and only thought of the general good we were doing. But we're older now and wiser to the ways of the world. I'll admit that I threw a tantrum or two once I knew my son would be okay."

"It's a mother's prerogative." Nadine said with a soft smile. "I don't blame you one bit."

Aisha let out a deep breath and settled back in her chair, while the good doctor got up and got her a drink.

It took about 45 minutes for Rocky's tattoo to be finished, but the result was beautiful. Once a few pictures had been taken for Odin's portfolio and ointment had been spread and the bandage applied, it was Kyle's turn. Father and son traded places and then it was Kyle keeping a brave face and Rocky keeping his son talking.

The whole time Autumn watched her boyfriend with concern. After about twenty minutes Rocky looked up and noticed the young teenager watching from her seat. He whispered something to Kyle who nodded and then got off the stool.

"Hey Autumn, why don't you come keep Kyle company for a while?"

Autumn looked up at Aisha uncertainly but when her aunt gave her a smile and a nod, she got up and approached the chair.

Kyle looked up from the tattoo gun, grimacing just a little. Autumn watched the needle for a moment and looked back at her boyfriend. "Is it bad?"

Kyle shook his head. "Not a lot. It's not nearly as bad as when that idiot sliced my skin." After a few moments, it's just like my skin getting scratched. It'll all be worth not having to constantly wear long sleeved shirts every day."

Autumn nodded and looked at the progress on his arm. The outline had been finished and now Odin was working on shading the phoenix's tail. The red ink was really making the design stand out. She could barely see the scars anymore. "It's looking better already." She said with a smile.

Kyle looked at the tattoo. She was right.

Before either of them realized it, the tattoo was finished. Odin once again spread the ointment on the tattoo and then wrapped it up good.

"In three hours, you can take the bandage off after you've cleaned your hands. Every few hours put this ointment on it," he said handing over a small tub of goo. "Keep it moisturized and out of direct sunlight until it scabs over. I don't know how fast you rangers heal, but when it does, you'll be able to enjoy it a lot more. It also wouldn't hurt to make a return trip in a couple weeks to check the healing process.

"Thanks Odin," Rocky said as he helped his son off the chair.

The biker dude flashed them a smile. "Don't mention it, like ever. Enjoy the tattoos."

With the tattoos finished, they headed back to the manor. Aisha looked in the rearview mirror and smiled at the sight. Her son and Autumn were cuddled together, as well as they could with the seat belts in the way. She was gently touching his bandaged forearm. He whispered something and pecked her cheek again. She sighed and smiled up at him and then rested her head against his shoulder.

It was a Kodak moment and it would be burned in her mind forever.


End file.
